A neural code of egocentric spatial information in human medial temporal lobe

Abstract Spatial navigation relies on neural systems that encode spatial information relative to the external world or in relation to the navigating organism. Ever since the proposal of cognitive maps, the neuroscience of spatial navigation has focused on allocentric (world-referenced) neural representations such as place cells. Here, using single-neuron recordings during virtual navigation, we reveal a neural code of egocentric (self-centered) spatial information in the human brain: We describe “anchor cells”, which represent egocentric directions towards local “anchor points” distributed across the environmental center and periphery. Anchor-cell activity was abundant in parahippocampal cortex, signaled anchor-point distances, and showed memory modulation. Anchor cells may thus facilitate egocentric navigation strategies, may assist in transforming percepts into allocentric spatial representations, and may underlie the first-person perspective in episodic memories. One Sentence Summary Anchor cells in the human brain provide the neural basis for a self-centered coordinate system during spatial navigation.